France's strengths and weaknesses

France’s long list of weaknesses is well known: Abnormally low employment rate; Weight of industry that has become very low; Disappearance of productivity gains; Low labour force skills; Inefficient education system; High public debt, generated by current fiscal deficits and not by public investments. We can perhaps, however, identify some strengths, some factors that may lead to a recovery: France is once again creating manufacturing jobs, which is encouraged by the definition of a fairly effective industrial policy; Corporate investment is growing; "French Tech" is dynamic; R&D and automation spending are picking up, but from a low level; Savings are abundant and can be used more efficiently.